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This paper aims to propose a typology of Czech consumers with respect to their attitudes toward the country of origin when purchasing beverages. Attention is paid to four commonly purchased beverage categories: beer, wine, tea and coffee. Using the Computer Assisted Web Interviewing method, the total number of fully completed questionnaires obtained was 396. The selection of respondents was determined by gender and age quotas. The measurement of attitudes involved utilizing a set of 22 statements concerning the beverage origin which were evaluated on a five-point scale. As confirmed by the research results, in each beverage category, the country of origin influences consumers' purchasing decisions differently. When purchasing wine, Czech consumers most commonly verify the country from which it originates. The origin is also important to them when it comes to beer, with the strongest preference for beer produced in their own country. The country from which the beverage originates has a considerably lower importance for coffee and is the least important when buying tea. Based on respondents' attitudes toward the country of beverage origin, four consumer segments were identified, namely "Experimenters," "Picky consumers," "Patriots," and "Pro-European consumers." Factor and cluster analysis were used for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The supply of fast, accessible and high-quality information to individual users is the key aspect of information assurances of the agricultural sector. Th is aspect is closely related to the so-called information need. The paper aims to evaluate the current state of the information needs and information support and their impacts on small farms in the Czech Republic. There is a strong necessity to improve the economic performance of farms in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the need for the introduction of new ICT in farming and farm management has rapidly increased at present. In farming, the ICT directly supports the operational agricultural activities and it can also serve as an interactive and flexible tool for monitoring the progress of the farm economic performance. The analysis of the current state of the issue of information needs and dispositions among Czech farms was based on the questionnaire survey. We obtained 165 correctly filled answers from agricultural enterprises. Survey results are analysed with descriptive statistics, frequency tables, the clustering analysis and the correlation analysis. The results show that with 95% probability: (1) The level of the information needs is related to the current state of the ICT and the decision support system at the farm, (2) The influence of the information need level to the level of new technologies usage was not confirmed, (3) Legislation issues represent a crucial part of the information needs of agricultural subjects, (4) Large enterprises with more than 500 ha have a much better level of the information support than the companies with fewer hectares, (5) Companies with less than three employees face problems with their information support, (6) Czech farms in average use advanced ICT and information systems, and (7) The farmer's decision-making is not strongly facilitated through the ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to determine preferences of Czech consumers in online shopping of long-life semi-skimmed milk and to identify the importance of milk attributes in their online buying process, with focus on brand. Specifically, the study is focusing on: 1) identification of the importance of a brand in comparison with packaging, price and quality label in online purchases, 2) finding milk with maximum utility for consumers, and 3) revealing the most preferred brand of milk when other attributes stay the same. Data were collected in September 2018 through an online survey, using full-profile conjoint analysis. A total of 185 respondents 18+ living in the Czech Republic, selected by quota sampling method concerning the role of men and women in household food purchases, completed a questionnaire. Research results reveal that brand is the most important extrinsic quality cue affecting milk choice in online purchases, with relative importance 50.3%. The importance of other surveyed attributes is balanced, with 18.6% for packaging, 17.6% for price and 13.5% for quality label. Comparison of consumer preferences for three different brands of milk with otherwise the same attributes revealed the highest preference for brand coming from the region. A familiar brand plays a key role in maintaining a competitive position in the online grocery market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human resources and their knowledge are the main asset of the European Union and they represent the innovation potential of every organization regardless of in which country it carries out its business activities. This potential must be developed through formal and informal learning, which is the objective and concept of today's educational policy in most large organizations. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the tools for human resources training and development used in organizations operating in the Czech Republic. A questionnaire survey (n = 402) was carried out as part of quantitative research and the results were evaluated using descriptive and multivariate statistics (factor analysis). The results showed that training and development of employees is an integral part of HR activities in 82.34 % organizations in the Czech Republic; however, these activities are planned in only 29.3 % of organizations dealing with this area. The research results show that it is necessary to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of training and development of employees, focus on the development of managers in organizations and increase spending on training programs. With regard to the growing emphasis on increasing the competitiveness of not only the Czech Republic according to the Europe 2020 strategy, it is necessary that all employees enhance their qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with small and medium enterprises in relation to the attitudes perceived by business owners in their immediate neighbourhood, society, in relation to banks and the government. The key question is the difference between entrepreneurs who started their businesses voluntarily and those who entered the business out of necessity. The majority of governmental policies, including Czech policies, focus more on the questions of financial support, however the support of entrepreneurs can be broader and may include the efforts to influence perception of an individual and the society so that they have a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurial activities. The attitudes in the Czech Republic are so far rather negative and such a change may be positively reflected in the level of the entrepreneurial activity which strongly affects economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To ascertain and explore the views of women and their partners, giving birth in the Czech Republic, of the level of respectful or disrespectful care provided during pregnancy and early labour. Design: Ethical approval was granted for a descriptive, online anonymous survey of 65 questions, with quantitative and qualitative responses. Setting: The Czech Republic.The survey was completed by 8,767 women and 69 partners in 2018. Measurements and findings: Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to present results. The majority of women were aged 26-35 years. Most had birthed in one of 93 hospitals, with 1.5% home births. Almost 40% never had an abdominal examination.in pregnancy. Quantitative data analysis revealed that less than half were given information on place of birth, or how to keep labour normal or non-interventionist. Almost 60% did not get information on positions for birth. Most (68%) commenced labour naturally, 25% had labour induced, 40% of them before term, and 7% had an elective caesarean section; 55% stated they had not been given any choice in the decision. Over half of those who had a membrane sweep said permission had not been sought. Half (54%) only had 'checking' visits from the midwife in labour. Key conclusions: Findings reveal a lack of information-giving, discussion and shared decision-making from healthcare professionals during pregnancy and early labour. Some practices were non-evidenced-based, and interventions were sometimes made without consent. Implications for practice: The examples of disrespectful care described in this study caused women distress during childbirth, which may result in an increased fear of childbirth or an increase in free-birthing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is a concept that is constantly evolving, being discussed at the global, national, and local levels, not only among individuals but also within organisations. However, the importance of this concept lies in its complexity. The article's main goal is to identify the approaches of selected Czech companies to promote the concept of sustainable development and evaluate the basic factors that impact competitiveness. The data were obtained based on quantitative research (questionnaire survey of data collection) in selected organisations (n = 179) and additional qualitative research in the form of individual interviews with representatives of agricultural enterprises (n = 8). Data were processed using chi-square tests and factor analysis to identify latent variables. Key approaches to promoting the concept of sustainable development include an emphasis on process approach, non-financial business performance, and sector stability. The basic factors for competitiveness are quality relationships with stakeholders and the implementation of an integrated management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of various changes in the entrepreneurship environment with the aim to create value and gain sustainable competitive advantage, businesses more often pay attention to soft skills within the management and to intangible assets. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of Intellectual Capital and Diversity Management as a tool for business management and efficient use of Intellectual Capital within a business. After having done research within extant literature about both topics mentioned, there is a practical part of the research which uses two independent questionnaire surveys. One of the questionnaires focuses on the concept of Intellectual Capital and it is still being conducted. This questionnaire uses the first outcomes of the research; the second part deals with the topic of Diversity Management and it was already concluded in 2013. The practical part of the article compares the outcomes of the empiric research in the area of Diversity Management with the results of the research of Intellectual Capital concept. The main question is if the managers of the businesses located in the Czech Republic are aware of the Intellectual Capital concept and whether they understand the importance of its control in comparison to understanding the benefits of Diversity Management which is considered to be a factor with a certain influence on the efficiency of Intellectual Capital. Furthermore, the dependency between the size and sector of a business and its understanding of the Intellectual Capital concept and importance is examined. This is done by means of statistical tools. The results and outcomes of the research are discussed in the final part of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Listy Cukrovarnicke a Reparske is the property of VUC Praha a.s. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper deals with the implementation of diversity management in the Czech and Slovak organizations. The aim of the research was to find out how the concept of diversity management is accepted and applied in the Czech and Slovak companies. The scale questionnaire of the authors own construction was used for data collection. The questionnaire contained apart from the intro-ductory classification items 25 items divided into three thematic areas: the field of inclusion and justice, the field of diversity management implementation and the field of benefits resulting from implementing diversity management. The statistically significant differences and dependencies that emerged among items in the questionnaire were examined by Kruskal-Wallis test and other statistical methods. The research survey revealed that respondents' answers were significantly affected by factors such as the seat of the company and the working position of the respondent. The respondents from the Slovak Republic generally perceive issue of diversity management more positively compared with respondents from the Czech Republic. Also the managers perceive issue of diversity management more positively compared with employees. The research survey identified partially the existing state of implementing the concept of diversity management in organizations in the Czech and Slovak Republics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential sector generates around 14% of the overall waste production in the Czech Republic. This essential share requires special attention to analyze with particular emphasis for citizen education, especially on young people. Thus, this research is dedicated to citizens' awareness about packaging waste to increase their knowledge. The experiment was conducted in the form of a survey, and students from a Czech university were asked to estimate the weight of the packaging waste presented to them in term to verify their knowledge about packaging waste. This experiment featured different groups of students over time. The result showed no difference in knowledge between these student groups over time. The long-term home study caused by COVID-19 did not appear to have affected students' knowledge of packaging waste. This study showed students' actual knowledge about packaging waste and highlighted the gap and importance of education in waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Information & Media is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is a lack of knowledge regarding the profiles of Czech business angels. In this article, we intend to contribute the empirical evidence in regard to identifying a 'typical' business angel profile in the Czech Republic. Using a unique dataset containing survey gained data on informal venture capitalists, we show that angel investors share many of the characteristics reported for well-developed markets. They are usually males, middle aged, with high school backgrounds and further educational achievements in MBA courses. They are trained or experienced in entrepreneurship or have the status as a hired or owner manager in a firm. Furthermore, the ICT is the most targeted industry amongst business angels. Similar to their foreign counterparts, they are financially well-off, although we have to differentiate in regard to age categories. Co-operation with other BAs is a very common channel how the deal flow is facilitated. BAs are 'hands-on' investors in the sense they provide investee companies with advice, insights, knowledge. The implications from this study indicate that measures focused on data gathering have to be implemented in order to systematically analyse the market and apply problem-driven policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We intend to contribute the empirical evidence in regard to identifying the impact of external environment on the activity of business angels in Czechia. Although prior academic studies have argued that e.g. overall economic growth, capital market, legal structures and the protection of property rights, corruption, innovativeness, the tax rate and labour market policy are the main determinants of the decision-making of business angels in the well-developed market, little is known about exogenous factors affecting behaviours of informal venture capitalists in Central and Eastern European countries. To our knowledge, we are the first who attempt to uncover the perception of changing economic conditions on business angel decision-making while using a qualitative survey research approach as primary data on business angels is currently not available. The results indicate that business angels pay little attention to the impact of the general macroeconomic conditions, as well as the role played by the capital market. They refer to 'critical' issues related to the difficult predictability of legislative changes. Dissatisfaction has also been expressed with the functioning of the public administration. Business angels also consider the current situation on the labour market and public education policy to be serious barriers to business development in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Czech population experienced a second lockdown lasting for about half a year, restricting free movement and imposing social isolation. However, it is not known whether the impact of this long lockdown resulted in habituation to the adverse situation or in the traumatization of the Czech population, and whether the media and specific media use contributed to these effects. Objective: The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of the long lockdown on the mental health of the Czech population, and the role of exposure to COVID-19 news reports and specific forms of media news use in mental health. Methods: We conducted two consecutive surveys in the early (November 2020) and late (March/April 2021) phases of the nationwide lockdown on the same nationally representative group of Czech adults (N=1777) participating in a longitudinal panel study. Results: Our findings showed that the self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression increased in the second observation period, confirming the negative effect of the pandemic lockdown as it unfolded, suggesting that restrictive measures and continuous exposure to a collective stressor did not result in the strengthening of resilience but rather in ongoing traumatization. The results also suggest a negative role of the media's coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in mental health during the early, and particularly late, phases of the lockdown. Furthermore, we found several risk and protective factors of specific media news use. The media practice in news consumption connected to social media use was the strongest predictor of exacerbated mental health symptoms, particularly in the late phase of the lockdown. Moreover, news media use characterized by internalization of information learned from the news, as well as negative attitudes toward media news, were associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. Conversely, the use of infotainment, together with an in-depth and contextual style of reading news articles, were related to improvement of mental health. Conclusions: Our study showed that the long lockdown resulted in traumatization rather than habituation, and in more pronounced effects (both negative and positive) of media use in mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endpoint users are usually viewed as the highest-risk element in the field of cybersecurity. At the same time, they need to be protected not just from the individual-level prism but also, from the state's perspective, to counter threats like botnets that harvest weakly secured endpoints and forge an army of so-called zombies that are often used to attack critical infrastructure or other systems vital to the state. Measures aimed at citizens like the Israeli hotline for cybersecurity incidents or Estonian educational efforts have already started to be implemented. However, little effort is made to understand the recipients of such measures. Our study uses the survey method to partly fill this gap and investigate how endpoint users (citizens) are willing to protect themselves against cyber threats. To make results more valid, a unique comparison was made between cyber threats and physical threats according to the impact which they had. The results show statistically significant differences between comparable cyber-physical pairs indicating that a large portion of the sample was not able to assess the threat environment appropriately and that state intervention with fitting countermeasures is required. The resultant matrix containing frequencies of answers denotes what portion of respondents are willing to invest a certain amount of time and money into countering given threats, this enables the possible identification of weak points where state investment is needed most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With regard to minimizing negative ICT impacts, a number of Green ICT initiatives have been raised. This article presents selected results of a survey conducted in the Czech SMEs that show which drivers and inhibitors influence Green ICT diffusion. First, drivers and inhibitors of Green ICT diffusion are established. Then, the survey results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the personal views of female gynecologists regarding the management of POP with a particular focus on the issue of uterine sparing surgery.Methods: A questionnaire based survey of practicing female gynecologists in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia.Results: A total of 140 female gynecologists from 81 units responded to our questionnaire. The majority of respondents stated they would rely on a urogynecologist to aid them with their choice of POP management options. The most preferred options for POP management were sacrocolpopexy and physiotherapy. Almost 2/3 of respondents opted for a hysterectomy together with POP surgery, if they were menopausal, even if the anatomical outcome was similar to uterine sparing POP surgery. Moreover, 81.4% of respondents, who initially opted for a uterine sparing procedure, changed their mind if the anatomical success of POP surgery with concomitant hysterectomy was superior. Discussing uterine cancer risk in relation to other organs had a less significant impact on their choices.Conclusions: The majority of female gynecologists in our study opted for hysterectomy if they were postmenopausal at the time of POP surgery. However, variation in information provision had an impact on their choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The employee satisfaction level is closely related to the performance and quality of work performed by an employee and, consequently, it translates into the competitiveness and success of a corporation, because a motivated and satisfied employee builds and participates in the success of any corporation (organization, firm, hospital, etc.). The aim of the article was to discover more about the current situation employee satisfaction level by selected healthcare service providers in the context of the gender of employees and the length of current employment of the employees by selected healthcare service providers in the Czech Republic. The overall employee satisfaction level was monitored through seven selected research areas. The research was carried out in 2017 from the sample of 608 respondents. Two research hypotheses and one research question have been formulated. The verification or rejection of null research hypotheses was done through the statistical method of the Pearson’s Chi‑square test. The results came along with the discovery that there is a statistically significant relation between the overall employee satisfaction level by selected healthcare service providers and the gender of employees and there is no statistically significant relation between the overall employee satisfaction level by selected healthcare service providers and the length of current employment of the employees by selected healthcare service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human resource management is a crucial factor that determines the success of small and medium-sized enterprises in the market and its competitiveness. Small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic form a significant group of employers in the Czech Republic since they employ two thirds of employees out of the total number of the work force and represent over 99% of the overall number of active business entities. The main objective of the article is to evaluate the level of human resource management in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic. Partial objectives of the article are to define a human resource management profile of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic and to test dependencies between selected qualitative features. The data (n = 499) was collected by means of a questionnaire technique. The results of the survey confirmed important human resource management internal factors (the size of the enterprise, the position of the HR manager in top management and the existence of the HR department) and helped to define the human resource management profile of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to present skills and abilities of a crisis manager, which managers of small businesses identified, and the evaluation of their significance for the performance of this function. A similar model or summary of these skills and abilities has not been identified in both Czech and foreign literature. For its creation it was necessary to carry out survey. A pilot survey was conducted on a sample of 350 respondents. An overview of abilities and skills was generated based on brainwriting. A mind map depicts generated proposals into two levels. To determine the significance of the identified skills the Saaty's method was used. Skills and abilities are concentrated in three groups - managerial, interpersonal and technical. Also different attributes of individual skills according to the level of their development were established. The model of required skills and abilities was created in cooperation with respondents and experts from crisis management. It can be a useful tool for businesses because this methodological aid is not yet included the in the database of competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the frame of the entire economy, the modern conception of Age Management enables each and every employee to use their full potential without being put at a disadvantage for age reasons. Despite the fact that this area is important in terms of current demographic development, there are organisations that do not implement its measures. The article therefore concentrates on the identification and evaluation of Age Management application by Czech agricultural businesses. The data analysed was obtained based on a quantitative survey in which data was collected by means of a questionnaire survey (total companies: n=315, agricultural businesses: na=60). The outcomes show that Czech agricultural businesses are not quite familiar with the application of Age Management measures. One of the conclusions of the article is that from the social point of view Age Management measures may help improve the situation on the labour market, labour productivity, encourage young people to work in the agricultural sector and, last but not least, build, on the organisational level, an employer's brand. Application of Age Management causes on the employees performance but also on the costs reduce and p rofit increase. This contribution is a follow-up to the project of University - wide internal grant agency (CIGA), number 20141002 - Human resource branding using of the new strategic trends in organisations in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 103 tree and shrub samples infected with powdery mildew were collected during 2002–2019 from locations within parks, botanical gardens and urban green areas within the Czech Republic and the powdery mildews were morphologically analyzed and identified. The most frequently represented genera were: Erysiphe (27, including former genera Microsphaera and Uncinula), Podosphaera (11, including former genus Sphaerotheca), Phyllactinia (3), Sawadaea (2) and Arthrocladiella (1). New records for the Czech Republic were: E. (U.) arcuata, E. (M.) deutziae, E. (M.) euonymicola, E. (U.) flexuosa, E. (M.) platani, E. (M.) symphoricarpi, E. (M.) vanbruntiana var. sambuci-racemosae, E. (U.) ulmi, Po. amelanchieris, Po. (Sph.) pruinosa and Po. (Sph.) spiraeae. The results were compared with the spectrum of powdery mildew species in the surrounding countries (Slovakia; Hungary; Poland and Germany (Bavaria)). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a contribution to research into the relationship between commuting and life satisfaction. Our focus is on high school students. The research is based on a questionnaire survey among students in three countries: the Czech Republic, Italy and Slovenia. The analysis is conducted using six OLS regression models: three countries and both boys and girls in each country. The results show significant variance between the countries as far as the relation between commuting time and life satisfaction is concerned. A strong relation has been found only in the case of the Czech Republic. Possible reasons for this disparity include differences in the way various modes of transportation affect one's commuting experience, the role of climate and cultural aspects. In addition, variance has been found between the way boys and girls approach as well as experience commuting. Finally, our results confirm that commuting is a highly underestimated factor of happiness among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]